THERE IS RISK that quality of patents granted by the USPTO will decrease because Trump appointed law firms to run the Office (law firms that had worked for him, so there's an element of nepotism too). Courts aren't changing though; having said that, patent trolls often rely on the accused not being able to afford going to court, hence a secret settlement over fake (bogus) patents.
At EFF, we review court dockets to monitor the conduct of the most active patent trolls. But when court records are redacted or sealed, it can be impossible for EFF and other members of the public to know what is going on. Today we filed a motion to intervene in Uniloc v. Apple seeking public access to key briefing about whether Uniloc should be able to bring the case at all.
Uniloc is one of the most active patent trolls in the world, and filed more than 170 lawsuits in 2018. It is the patent owner that sued Austin Meyer for offering his X-Plane flight simulator on app stores. That suit led to a documentary called The Patent Scam (available on Amazon Prime). Since then, Uniloc has been a big purchaser of patents, and various Uniloc entities have filed hundreds of patent suits.
In 2017, Uniloc filed a wave of patent litigation against Apple and other defendants. In some of those cases, Apple has moved to dismiss on the basis that Uniloc lacks standing. Apple’s motion to dismiss was heavily redacted, but it appears to relate to deals Uniloc has made with Fortress Investment Group LLC. Apple seems to be arguing that Uniloc and Fortress divided rights in the underlying patents in a way that means Uniloc entities no longer had a legal right to sue for infringement.
Litigations
California Central
Max Blu Technologies, LLC v. AVIC UMEDISC (US), Inc.
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. ESPN, Inc.
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Hulu, LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Microsoft Corporation
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Microsoft Corporation
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Netflix, Inc.
Delaware
Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. v. Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Inventergy LBS, LLC v. Securus Technologies, Inc.
Symbology Innovations LLC v. Pilot Corporation of America
Symbology Innovations LLC v. Vital Farms, Inc.
XMTT, Inc. v. Intel Corporation
Delaware (After Hours)
XMTT, Inc. v. Intel Corporation.
New Jersey
MEDICURE INTERNATIONAL, INC. v. GLAND PHARMA LTD.
TELEBRANDS CORP. v. ALTAIR INSTRUMENTS, INC.
Texas Eastern
Uniloc 2017 LLC et al v. Google LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC et al v. Google LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC et al v. Google LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC et al v. Google LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC et al v. Google LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC et al v. Google LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC et al v. Google LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC et al v. Google LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC et al v. Google LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC et al v. Google LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC et al v. Google LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC et al v. Google LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC et al v. Google LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. AT&T Services, Inc. et al
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Cardo Systems, Inc.
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Cisco Systems, Inc.
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Huawei Device USA, Inc. et al
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS AMERICA, INC. et al
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc. et al
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc. et al
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Terrano, LLC
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Verizon Communications Inc. et al
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Hike Ltd. et al
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Hike Ltd. et al
Texas Northern
Ring Protection LLC v. NEC Corporation of America
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Blackberry Corporation
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Blackberry Corporation
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Blackberry Corporation
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Blackberry Corporation
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. LG Electronics USA Inc et al
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. ZTE, Inc. et al
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. ZTE, Inc. et al
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. ZTE, Inc. et al
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. ZTE, Inc. et al
Texas Southern
Metuchen Pharmaceuticals LLC et al v. Empower Pharmaceuticals LLC et al
Ringers Technologies LLC v. Harmer
Texas Western
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Apple Inc.
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Apple Inc.
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Apple Inc.
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Apple Inc.